Chapter 15: Raven's Revenge

Perched on the starboard walkway of her airship, Danae listened to the string of curses wafting out of the smashed window alongside the bridge. She smirked as she dipped her brush into a can of silver paint and swirled it around until the bristles were saturated. With careful and precise motions, she finished painting the second half of the ‘V’ she started while listening to the events unfolding inside.

“Curse this bucket of bolts,” Harrisson growled as he kicked at the bridge’s console with his hefty hind-foot. Another panel popped off and clattered on the metal floor, exposing a mess of wiring still giving off whisps of smoke. “How’m I supposed to get this all back together when there are wires missin’? How do wires even go missin’ in an airship? Do we have skritt runnin’ around stealing our stuff again?”

Markus Ferin patted the old airship’s panels as he entered the bridge. “Don’t worry, girl. He didn’t mean it.” He looked around for a second until he spied his contraption sitting next to a box of tools. “Ah, there you are.”

“Yes, I did,” Harrisson grumbled in reply as he pulled out another fried wire and tossed it aside. “Meant every word.”

“These missing wires have got to be around here somewhere. I’m sure we’ll find them. If not, I may have some extra wiring down below,” Markus offered, but his crew-mate was inconsolable and only growled at him in reply. Immediately getting the hint Harrisson wanted to be left alone to stew in his anger, Markus limped quickly along, leaving the charr to curse and strike at the console until the problem was resolved or he tired himself out.

Danae’s lips cracked into a grin as she watched Markus step out onto the bow. The interactions between the two of them amused her greatly. Harrisson was a skilled pilot and a hard-hitting fighter should they get into a scrap, but his temper tended to flare up when something didn’t work the way it should. Markus always tried to help him see the brighter side, but the charr would never have it. He seemed to enjoy simmering in his anger, as if it fueled his very existence. Eventually, Danae had learned to just let him be. Blake used to roll her eyes and walk away every time it happened. Her grin fell as the harshness of reality reminded her she would never see her first mate do that ever again.

Markus stepped out onto the bow and hobbled along the starboard walkway toward Danae. His injury from the fight in Lion’s Arch had healed quickly after seeing a healer, but the internal damage still had yet to finish repairing. Wanting to be a compliant patient, he continued to wear the brace, but only after making a few minor adjustments in the joints for maneuverability. If he was going to be forced to continue to wear the contraption, it was at least going to be partially comfortable.

He smiled to himself as he glanced down at the metal parts in his arms. He had named it a ‘gyro’ due to the characteristic of its main feature: a gyroscopic core allowing it to remain stable as it took to flight. He had been excitedly talking about building it for a couple weeks, and he had just finished its first iteration. Early on, he tried to explain its function to Danae, but when her eyes began to glass over, he knew he needed to stop. He loved mechanical contraptions of his own making, but not everyone else appreciated his lengthy explanation of the designing and building processes.

“Hey capn’,” Markus greeted her as he approached Danae. “I thought you said you were taking a break.”

“I was, but when I got out here and saw this,” she began, gesturing to the lettering almost completely scraped away from the collision with the hillside in Lion’s Arch. With a little paint, Danae had been working on her break to bring the letters back to life, but with a slight alteration. “I couldn’t leave it the way it was. I felt a new life deserved a new name. What do you think?”

He looked at her work in progress and nodded. “Seems fitting.”

“Thanks. How’s she coming along? Can we get her in the sky soon? I’d like to get underway before Halvora finds out what we’re doing.”

“Well, the balloons and ballonet are patched and stitched,” Markus replied as he sat down next to Danae with his gyro parts in his lap. “I cycled some air into them, and she’s holding it all pretty steadily now. I think she’ll stay in the air. We just need that engine.”

Danae rest her paint brush in the can. “I put a word out to Boggs. He’ll let us know when he finds one.”

Markus nodded and then looked back over at Danae’s work on the side of the airship. “You know, I’ve been a part of this crew for a few years now, but I don’t think you’ve ever told me how she got her name Raven’s Reach. I didn’t take you for a believer of all that norn stuff.”

Danae chortled as she looked at the unfinished name painted on the metal in front of her. “All that norn stuff,” she repeated.

“I meant no offense, cap’n.”

“I know. It’s fine.” She left her paint brush where it was in the can and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m not, really. At least, I wasn’t until—I don’t usually talk about it.”

“It’s all right. You don’t have to.”

“You should know the history of the ship you’re serving on. You should know where she came from.” Danae insisted, her tone very matter-of-fact. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly while preparing herself for a tale she hadn’t told in quite a long time.

“My family had more money than they knew what to do with. I had luxuries available to me that most only dream of, but really, my life wasn’t really mine. I was told from an early age that my purpose was to look pretty, find a suitable man to marry, and continue the family line. My parents would parade me around at their parties, introducing me to this or that lord’s son. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was tired of this existence, and there was no one I could talk to about it. I needed to get away. So, I slipped out my window one night during one of my family’s parties and found myself sitting at a table at the Dead End, in my silks, drinking myself into a stupor.”

“Is that when you signed up with the Order?” Markus asked.

Danae shook her head. “No. Hell, that night I could barely walk on my own two feet after all the ale I drank. Instead, I found myself stumbling in a back alley, lost and drunk off my ass. I didn’t see the nasty group of thugs coming from behind. They ripped the jewels from my throat and tore the silks of my skirt. They would have done worse if Hemming hadn’t passed by.”

Markus brightened. “I remember that name. You’ve mentioned him before.”

Danae nodded. She picked her brush up again and swirled it in the silver paint before continuing on with the next letter. “Hemming Torgrimson. He was the largest norn I had ever met and also the kindest. I don’t remember much about our very first encounter, but I do recall waking up the next morning tucked into my own bed. Hemming was asleep on the floor. He stayed the night to make sure I was going to be okay. I had to sneak him out before my parents found him. To say they would have disapproved would have been an understatement. They would have made a spectacle of the whole thing and had him arrested and tossed in some forgotten dungeon. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Her brush out of paint, she dipped it back into the can while Markus quietly watched and waited for his captain to finish her story.

“I started meeting with Hemming in secret. He was the only one who listened, and he ended up serving as a mentor of sorts. We had to be careful though. If we were caught, we would both be under lock and key.”

“That sounds horrible,” Markus said. “I’m so sorry.”

Danae nodded. “I imagine it didn’t look that way to the people outside of the superficial veil my parents created, but it was. Yet, Hemming made it bearable. We talked for hours almost every day. He helped me see I had choices in front of me. All I had to do was be brave enough to make them. It was then I decided to join the Order of Whispers. I could finally be a part of something more than what my family offered me.” As she finished the curl of the last letter, Danae dropped the brush into the paint can and admired her work.

“How come we’ve never met him before?” Markus asked.

Danae frowned and swallowed hard. “I uh—just before I got my assignment as captain, Hemming returned home to Hoelbrak. I ventured out there to thank him for everything he had done to help me achieve this new life I was so proud of. But when I arrived, I was told he had left with a hunting party to track down a wild creature plaguing a small homestead. He never returned, and no one knows what happened to him.”

“I’m so sorry cap’n.”

Danae glanced up at Markus and managed a small smile. “He was a follower of Raven, the norn spirit of wisdom, wit, and cunning. He claimed it was Raven who led him to me. So, who knows? Maybe he survived and Raven has led him elsewhere. Or maybe Raven took Hemming to the mists himself. Regardless, he helped me find my path.” She reached up and placed a hand gently on her ship’s hull next to the drying paint. “It’s how I remember him. It’s how I say thank you.”

She stood up and picked up the can of paint by its handle. Markus got to his feet as well, still holding his bundle of parts. There was a vulnerability in his captain’s eyes that he had never seen before, but it disappeared quickly behind the usual mask of confidence she normally wore.

“The horrors of this world are not reserved for the poor and disenfranchised. Money doesn’t make a bad person better. It just helps cover up their ugliness and lies. The Byrnes shot us down, killed Blake, and has hurt anyone who’s gotten in their way. They think their privilege protects them from all the damage they’ve caused, and they’ll keep getting away with it if no one stops them. I’m not going to let that happen.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Markus offered. “We got your back, cap’n.”

Danae gently ran her fingers over the dried paint, committing each line and curve to memory. A new name for a new life. The silver letters contrasted brightly against the dark metal hull, spelling out the vessel’s new name: RAVEN’S REVENGE. “Nienna promised us revenge. By the gods—the Raven will have it. We all will.”